


a casual research paper

by ephemeral_fallacy



Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Multi, POV Third Person, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:25:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephemeral_fallacy/pseuds/ephemeral_fallacy
Summary: Walter doesn't study stupid things. Raymond is a stupid thing. He doesn't deserve any of his attention, honestly.





	

[ Question: Does Raymond still have feelings for Fairia?   
  Hypothesis: Raymond still has feelings for Fairia.   
  Experiment: Who knows? I shouldn’t be curious, and yet… ]

 

It happens simple enough.

 

Raymond, once again, is loitering around Walter’s lab, his nosy fingers brushing against every possible surface and his sickening smirk plastered over his (admittedly) pretty lips. Which God decided to grant this trash dashingly good looks? A horrid one, for certain.

 

Walter tells himself that, logically speaking, he’s only looking at the peddler in case he breaks something (pretending it’s not that he can’t tear his eyes off that broad back and those surprisingly muscular forearms — _ once more, Walter. The longer you allow him to stay, the more your equipment will be in danger of destruction, just tell him off _ —) but, if he does, he’ll leave a little too soon, and the irritation welling in his gut is just too familiar to shake off easily. 

 

Raymond, in general, is too hard to shake off easily.

 

But the moment his annoying companion grabs ahold of a mysterious beaker that began to bubble on impact, the blond’s grip closes around his wrist tightly, feeling solidity underneath his tingling palm, before yanking him back. Surprised fingers loosen with a yelp and the glass beaker of bubbling magenta tumbles to the floor, smashing into a puddle of steaming chemicals and jagged shards. 

 

“Hey, what was that for??” Raymond stares with confusion and brief concern as he pulls his arm back with a fierce strength, other hand rubbing at his wrist, lips curled into a firm frown. But, his mouth quickly returns to its lopsidedness as he notices the effects of his actions, like a permanent scar (and Walter wishes to heal it one day, straighten that face out).

 

“...Were ya worried for me?” A playful cackle, and Walter’s brow furrows further.

 

“Certainly not,” the blond shoots back, tearing his eyes from Raymond to the steaming mess that left a black burn on his perfect hardwood floor. (He wonders if he’d be more worried for the peddler than his lab if he hadn’t stopped him.) “You’ve destroyed another one of my materials...Don’t you ever use your brain?” 

 

Harsh, but both of them are used to such insults. It’s part of Walter now: a sharp mouth, a permanently furrowed brow, a mouth glued into a strict line (and Raymond wonders how in the world he can make him laugh). 

 

“How was I supposed t’know?” He whines, nasal tonality and he shakes out his wrist, his gaze roving the other male. “...anyway–”

 

“And you won’t even apologize for the damages. Well, I expected something of that sort from trash like you–”

 

Raymond cuts in, “Geez, man, you're cruel as always. I’m sorry, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?” 

 

_ Not quite. _ There are many things Walter would like to hear from that putrid mouth, but he’d never admit it out loud. He’d never admit it to anyone, not even himself.  _ Not yet.  _ “No. I’ll have to clean up the chaos you’ve created and that will slow my research and–”

 

The peddler sighs, “Okay, okay, I’ll clean it up! You could’ve just said that to begin with…”

 

But an idea pops into the researcher’s head.

 

“You  _ could _ answer a question of mine. A colleague of mine has been curious.”  _ You’re good at excuses, Walter. _

 

He can see the suspicion rising like a flood in the other male. Slowly, he replies, “...What's the question…?” 

 

“So, you’ll answer it?”

 

“Well, I have to know the question first…” Suspicion at max.

 

Walter adjusts his robes and stares into those sketchy, flirty, (and quite beautiful) eyes, before asking, “Do still retain feelings for Fairia?”

 

_ He’s not curious. He’s not curious. _

 

And he watches Raymond splutter a moment. His cheeks flare rose, and eyes dart around the room, looking for a distraction, but he should know better than that. His answering is inevitable. 

 

Walter feels his palms warm, a gentle sweat breaking out on his back; if he’s anxious to hear the answer, how much more uncomfortable would Raymond be?

 

“W-well..!! I mean, she’s nice n’all, but..I don’t..? She said it wasn’t gonna be anything serious anyway, yeah? So…–”

 

~~ Suddenly, the researcher is relieved: his palms return to even temperature and he adjusts his collar with a smug grin.  ~~

 

“Is that so? Well, I’ll be sure to notify Fairia–”

 

Raymond almost screams and he dramatically throws himself ‘round Walter, begging, “Wait, don’t! Please, she’ll kill me, she’ll definitely kill me this time..--!” 

 

“And then I won’t have any more distractions. Two birds with one stone.” 

 

“Walter, you can’t be that cruel, man, please…!” 

 

And for once, the blond chuckles, albeit out of sadistic glee. But is it just glee? This time, he does have a clue (but he’ll stifle it. How _disgusting_ it is to have excited feelings over a chance to be with a piece of rotten trash)...

 

[ Observations: ...I wasn’t curious, but he was flustered when asked about Fairia. Perhaps residual feelings? What drove me to even ask such a trivial thing? He did say he wasn’t interested…

  Conclusion: I need more information, but is it worth to pursue this topic? There's really no point...I think. ]

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> END ROLL is ruining my life lol


End file.
